Is it just me with a slug infestation?

[Beernie]

Hi, I am new to beekeeping this year. I live in an elevated & soggy region in the outskirts of Edinburgh so its usually cool and damp year round. A few weeks ago I had to pick about 6 leopard slugs from my poly nuc- they had covered comb with their slime & poo and were sitting on top of the frames. I moved them to an open mesh cedar hive on a stand - but now the slugs have returned inside. Some are quite motionless and bloated - I am assuming they have been dealt with my the bees. But they leave such a mess and it always seems to be the big slugs that ooze in. Does anyone have any tips how to evict them as they do seem to cause damage to comb and I want to reduce any problems getting them through their first winter. Thanks for any advice

 

[Nige.Coll]

Copper tape on the legs of the stand may work.

 

[user 819]

I have tried copper tape on my stand/s legs it partially works but the damps and weathering means it becomes tatty and unsticks. Probably best might be to buy very thin copper sheet 0.1mm/0.15mm and to pin a 4" - 6 " length up and around each leg.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Copper tape will work but you need to keep it shiny with a soft wire brush.
Alternatively where your hive stands use very small gravel / bark mulch etc
Lots of crushed egg shells around the legs.
Or cover the legs with something like vasiline then apply lots of salt they hate salt, you might have to top it up after rain etc but it's better than using slug pellets.
I've noticed that if you have unused frames on the outside of your boxes dummy them down with I. D. B 's - insulated dummy boards. Keep the colony as tight as pos.
I hope this helps..

Slugs don't really do any lasting damage but I agree they make the frames slimmy, and if they are honey supers then.. Yuk.. Slimmy slug honey doesn't sound very nice.. This would only happen though if you had an infestation.

 

[Curly green finger's]

I have tried copper tape on my stand/s legs it partially works but the damps and weathering means it becomes tatty and unsticks. Probably best might be to buy very thin copper sheet 0.1mm/0.15mm and to pin a 4" - 6 " length up and around each leg.

I agree, tape doesn't last very long your suggestion is perfect.

 

[user 819]

One of my apiaries is a security/fenced Network rail site with a pair of colonies. The hives sit on a slab and the ground area is covered in largish pebbles, no slug issues in these colonies.

 

[user 819]

Or cover the legs with something like vasiline then apply lots of salt they hate salt, you might have to top it up after rain etc but it's better than using slug pellets.

The Vaseline/salt routine will become a chore/tiresome after a while, one needs a fit and forget idea.
I quite like the idea of a heavy rough mulch layer, I may try the wood chippings from my garden shredder to scatter around the hive stands.

 

[madasafish]

Lots of slugs, snails here: ground in field is very marshy all 20 odd acres.. Growing lettuces/other green low vegs is a waste of time.. (unless you use lots of slug pellets which I attempt to avoid wherever possible..

I just ignore the slugs and snails.. (they also climb up the stone walls of our house)

 

[Beernie]

I had forgotten about copper tape. I have used in the past for my plants with limited success. Maybe I can just apply it at triple depth to see if helps, Thanks for that tip

 

[Curly green finger's]

The Vaseline/salt routine will become a chore/tiresome after a while, one needs a fit and forget idea.
I quite like the idea of a heavy rough mulch layer, I may try the wood chippings from my garden shredder to scatter around the hive stands.

Sprinkle some rock salt around the legs then that would last longer.
You could forget about it for a week

 

[pargyle]

I solved the problem at my allotment: I grow my lettuces on this:

It takes up about 1.5 sq mtr of floor space and I have 10 troughs on there. I used copper tape roiund the legs but you really need to keep it shiny for it to work ... so I cut the bottom off four plastic milk bottles, drilled a couple of holes in the bottom for drainage, the legs of the stand sit in these containers and I then filled them with horticultural grit which slugs are reluctant to cross ... I also roast egg shells in the oven and crush them and top the grit off with those when the salads start growing as the slugs definitely won't cross that. It's been working well for a number of years and I don't get slugs or snails in my salad crops. Easily transferrable to a hive stand,

 

[Curly green finger's]

You

I solved the problem at my allotment: I grow my lettuces on this:

It takes up about 1.5 sq mtr of floor space and I have 10 troughs on there. I used copper tape roiund the legs but you really need to keep it shiny for it to work ... so I cut the bottom off four plastic milk bottles, drilled a couple of holes in the bottom for drainage, the legs of the stand sit in these containers and I then filled them with horticultural grit which slugs are reluctant to cross ... I also roast egg shells in the oven and crush them and top the grit off with those when the salads start growing as the slugs definitely won't cross that. It's been working well for a number of years and I don't get slugs or snails in my salad crops. Easily transferrable to a hive stand,

You are a pivotal member Philip when it comes to recycling.
One could even put a hive stand in one of these fill it up with slug given hateys.
Large Plastic Tray
Maybe not if you have lots of hives..

Gone of on one here!!

Make the trays deeper and plant slug given hatey plants... or marigolds.

 

[Curly green finger's]

You

You are a pivitial member Philip when it comes to recycling.
One could even put a hive stand in one of these fill it up with slug given hateys.
Large Plastic Tray
Maybe not if you have lots of hives..

Gone of on one here!!

Make the trays deeper and plant slug given hatey plants... or marigolds.

I've now found out how to re- name links
Pivotal moment

 

[Beernie]

Thank you all for your tips, there is hope then! I will try the copper tapes and the suggestion by Paragyle as I feel this is a standard of diy even I can achieve. It’s set for a stinker of a wet weekend so fingers crossed. Thanks again!

 

[Amari]

Thank you all for your tips, there is hope then! I will try the copper tapes and the suggestion by Paragyle as I feel this is a standard of diy even I can achieve. It’s set for a stinker of a wet weekend so fingers crossed. Thanks again!

Multiple methods may be best - the above plus ferric phosphate slug pellets - said to be harmless to birds and hedgehogs unlike the shortly-to-be-banned metaldehyde pellets.

Maybe strangely, in 48 years beekeeping I've never had a slug problem, never seen a slug within a hive.

 

[pargyle]

You

You are a pivotal member Philip when it comes to recycling.

More than you would think as it happens ...

The stand the troughs sit on came about because I once had a very old pair of wooden steps that fell apart (with me on top of them as it happens ... a story I may tell in full one day - it involved me, the steps, a crate full of home brewed beer in bottles, the loft hatch and the top landing in our first house ! ~ you can imagine the outcome !! messy, painful and no sympathy from 'er indoors when she viewed the resultant devastation at the bottom of the stairs with me lying in the middle of it ...).

The steps went to stair heaven but I kept the hinges for nearly 40 years until I found a use for them ... and the salad stand came into being starting with the A Frame structure. The timber was recycled joists from our son's house in sheffield and some pallet wood ...

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

What's salad?

 

[Bryang]

I used slug nematodes when I kept my hives on open ground and on gravel that had a lot of soil in it...It took a couple of doses over 3 months, but now I rarely see any slugs..the brand I used were "Nemaslug"

 

[Apple]

What's salad?

Green stuff that Vegans live on... but can be spiced up with a bit of mayo and slices of badger ham!

Chons da

 

[pargyle]

What's salad?

Green stuff that 'er indoors eats ....and the hens like ...